Motivated Seller Leads

[Luis Alfaro]

Hello BP Community,

I'm overthinking a lot about starting up my business. Not so much about how to talk to sellers or closing a deal. It's about marketing. I launched my website and now have an Instagram Account to show my business. 

I'm having trouble with direct mail, I have 50 envelopes ready To send and I know I want the majority of my leads coming in with Direct Mail. My problem isn't how the appearance of the mail is.. (which is a big deal of course) but finding the leads. I did driving for dollars but I'm more interested in just buying a list. Anybody know where I can get a cheap one with Absentee owners? 

[Sean OToole]

@Luis Alfaro, absentee owners is one of the most popular lists, so yes, it is quite likely you'll be competing with other investors on that list. This is actually true of pretty much every list, and every method, ever.

Lot's of people spend a lot of time and money trying to find a secret list that no one else has. When it comes to direct mail at least, I don't think that is the most important thing to spend time. Instead, what I believe is more important is to spend time understanding what the people on that list need and want better then your competitors.

Even if you are targeting absentee owners, you can focus on in on particular subsets, like folks who were underwater and just have equity again - your pitch to them should be different then to absentee owners who own their properties free and clear. This is the step that most investors fail to take. They get some list (absentee, code enforcement, cash buyers, free and clear, whatever), and send the same thing to everyone with the same message, a message which is often more about the investors needs and wants then the sellers.

Stop worrying about the list and spend more time worrying about how well you understand what the needs of the people you are trying to reach are.